Afghanistan earthquake | Pakistan plane carrying aid joins relief effort

Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s ambassador in the Afghan capital of Kabul, said relief goods dispatched by Pakistan on June 25 were handed over to Taliban officials.

A Pakistani military cargo plane carrying relief goods for Afghanistan’s earthquake-affected people landed at the Khost airport on June 25, officials said, as tents, food and medical supplies rolled into the mountainous region.

Thousands were left homeless or injured by this week’s powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, which state media said killed 1,150 people. An aftershock on June 24 took five more lives.

Among the dead from Wednesday’s magnitude 6 quake are 121 children and that figure is expected to climb, said the U. N. children's agency representative in Afghanistan. He said close to 70 children were injured.

Survivor Dawlat Khan in the district of Gayan in Paktika province said five members of his family were injured and his house destroyed by the earthquake.

"We are facing many problems. We need all kind of support, and we request the international community and Afghans who can help to come forward and help us,” he said.

Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s ambassador in the Afghan capital of Kabul, said relief goods dispatched by Pakistan on June 25 were handed over to Taliban officials. “It was our duty to help our Afghan brethren at this difficult time,” he said.

Neighbouring Pakistan was often accused of harbouring Afghanistan’s Taliban fighters before they swept to power last August as America ended its 20-year war. Since their takeover, Islamabad has led the way in pressing the world to engage with the religiously driven Afghan government.